Motor-vehicle-converting apparatus.



` Patented Mar. 4.1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET G. TOE-Nom .A C. o. WINKLER.

.Moo 'vHxcLE CONI/Emma APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I7. ISIS.

Patented Mm'. 4, i919.

I 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. TOETTCHER & C. 0. WINKLER.

MOTOR VEHICLE CONVERTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FAILED APR. 1.?. 15H8.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

3 SHEETS- SHEET 3.

Geenen meneame ann @Hennes o. Winni-ein; elise-. y noms: Messdunia'Leeegeae.

application inea Apre i7, ieee." siniq. e'aeab .To all 'wwm it mayconcer Be it known that we, GEORGE TQETTCHER and CHARLES 0. INKLER,etzens'of the lniterlfStates,.residing in the city of St. Louis-,andState. of Missouri, have invented eertain new and useful Alimorovements`in L'liotoiiehieleConverting Apparatus, ofl'einen the :following is aspecification.

The object on? thisinvention is to provide simple, inexpensive, andconvenient means for eonvertinga pleasure motorvehicle into loweredposition;

'a motertruck anni vice versa.

pleasure or business vehicle the front seat remains unchanged.

v"When this vehicle is to be used as a pleasure eer having. arear aswell as a clrlvers fami-fthe mechanism herein described isoperated to4raise the rear sea-t into position for use; and when this vehicle 1s tobe used 'es a truck this mechanism is operated in a reverse direction,whereby,T the rear seat is lowered to a level below the Hoor level ofthe vehicle, and' boards are laid above the seat as thus lowerecl,thereby making a .level oorlforxbusiness purposes.

Fereonvenience of access to. the said boards ami to' the placeawherethe'y are-laid, as ,well as' for -convenience of loading; the

truck part of the vehicle, rear entrance doors I are provided. n

4In the accompanying drawings Iormmg 'partei thisspecoation., in whichlike numhers of reference denote likeparts wherever they occur5 i 1Figure l is a longituclinal. sectional elevation, Vout through thecenter" of the Inotor vehicle, illustrating this invention with 'theseat ini-aised position; l Fig. 2 is a siniihn'` section, with the`seat-in 'Fig'. 3 is a.' section taken on .the lineiBv-S Fig. 1f asindicated by the arrows;V

raising andlowe'rng operating lever; and

illustrating 'the position of the rear .doors.'

their-ame 2 in the usual. manner. epenclent from the franie 2 y1s a honing The body 1 of the vehicle's supporte-cl bvfj in lowered p'oSitiomthe seat 4' havingtlie back 5. The said honsii'iggv 3 isfga'ttaohed to vthe chassis by screws oz' holt-s 6 or other suitable means. y j y A.pair of doors?. close and, open 1n the 1 as [to hang free of rearfazfile 10,"1wlu`ch or. similar.membersi 24;; 25,126

l edftoir o cylindfr'icalchar "af-'wreck each 'ef baci; er the 'hedenanja aie higa 11ste@ thefsald hotly." 'lfhejrare keptjclosed by' thelockhanlle 9. il

The honsingjifs so located an arranged f iilxle is provided withftl-elciistoinary.differential of thefoody l allowsfentrmitito the 'rearseat. T lefrontipart'o-the vehi'c-leis not' shown in the drawing f `Anoperating lever or .handle AA `{s ee 4:) vhasasocket l1.5 inenelendg'fwhiclrsoclet c is adapted ytofitjo'ver"an arln lG when ,itisi' clesirecl'l .to operate the 'mechanism' in leither direction."Thelsaicl arm 16' and'y lever v,151' Work together` as- "a 'singlemember or lever to rotate 'spur gear 175 backward or forward.I By the'.enmeshnient of gea'irf.18v` with geari I7 thesail gear .18* iscanseclto rotate in'the direc-tion ,opposite toy the rotation ofgear '17and thus `,to actuate arm lgjivhich? is.`pi votel atQO-to rod '21, whichat itso'ppositefend iis" s tool ythatarm ,'16 is so-ix'e'd to; orfin connfel tlon with gear 17 vto canse its i; movement; and that gearlS isso similarlygattached'pto, or connected.` With ,211111.19 2Ls to.,Ciruse itsnhmovl ment. Angle-irons .24 and 25 areattached" to; and'ldependV fr'ornfgthefrance2; and are connected 1by angleironsyEGQ 2623,.and( 2.6?i to'A form a frame to recevetthe 'seat operating means,I L thei shaft 427; being: 'rtativelyl monnt- .f edinfbear'ngsinthefanglefrons. Fi 'ed onl theashaft'zis the' leve 123; towhicli is'90 attachedMthe rodi .2li as -heeinbefore describe. ,.'f i! wir. {.fv: fFig-1 ,welllsho'ws,tlaepositionof,theleversfA 23: and' 36; when theseat.l hlbnf elevateL" l while Fig. 'Qfshws theposition ofthe said 95 levers28'and'436 when 'theseat hasbeen lowered into thewell-fWitliin-.housing-i VIt will be' observeclfthat housingBjinclosesthe.; rigid or stable1 liameLcoin/pos'edi offtheaagle" l v@awe When elevatedihefseatfflfls npportedby fonrlg's, 'eachof which iscomposedfof a" st rongljfuattache-- to an' Anf actuatigzlcross 4 Ineto.' the shaf'rand Stb t To' the] ext" 'levers .$36.1

there is pivoted at 37 a pair of arms 38, re-

spectively, which again are pivoted at 39 to members 29. y I

When the seat is in the raised position shown in Fig. 1 the propermovementv of lever 14 and arm 16 Will cause arm 19 to push upon rod 21and thus upon one arm of bell-crank 23, Which depresses the arm 36 ofthe said bell-crank, thereby pulling cross member 34, which causes arms3S to bend to the position shown in Fig. 2 and pulling with them members29.` rlhis causes a break at the knuckle joint 40 between the members 29and 28, whereby the seat 4 is pulled-to the position shown in Fig. 2 andthe members 28 and 29 are collapsed as there shown. The back 5 canthenbe bent over, as shown in Fig. 2, and the floor boards 41 put inplace to cover the seat and provide a complete truck floor.

' When it is desired to elevate the seat 4 lto the position shown inFig. 1 the lever 14 and arm 16 are moved in the'opposite direction tothat above mentioned, and thereby a pull on rod 21 is caused which, aswill be readily understood, causes the lever 36 and the lever 23 to betilted upwardlyV through` the shaft 27 which forces the arms 38 tostraighten-'toward the position shown in Fig. 1, Which movement in turnraises the members 29 lto a vertical position and thereby causes members28 to assume a vertical position, all of vWhich raises seat 4 from theposition shown in Fig. 2 to that depicted in Fig. 1. The back of seat 4c an then be raised as shown in-Fig. 1. Of course the oorboards 41 Willbe removed before the attempt is made to raise seat 4, 1 It is to beunderstood that thev seat-supporting and raising members in part areduplicated on opposite sides .of the carand cross-connected by shafts 27and 35.l

When the seat is being moved, either up or down, its movement is muchfacilitated by Athe rollers 31,'on rods 32, this movement beingvparticularly easy because. the rollers are grooved and 'their respectivetracks round., I

Rods 32 and 32a are pivoted at 32b and 'are folded over as shown in Fig.2.

The bearings46 for shaftsi42 and 44ers j located on both sides ofvthe'chassis 2 and secured by bolts 'or screws/43. `-Memloer's 29 are.pivotedl at 47 to member 26.

The-pair of levers 23 andI 36 yare cross'- connected by shaft. 27, towhich they are "respectivelyfixed.1 Shaft27. is so secured in connectionWith members 26v and 26a as to'y be quite stable. The pair 'of arms '19so4 Y,

A dog48is mounted on chassis 2y (as -best seen in Figs.I land 2) .insuch manner as to.

mounted lfixedly 'on shaft 44.V

preventl back rotation Iof gear 17. Thesaid -dog :is pivotedat 49 .tolthe vchassis2 and must be lifted out of engagement vWith: gear are 17before gear 17 Acan be so operated as to loiver seat 4. So long as thesaid dog engages gear 17 there can be no droppingof seat 4. 'v

In practical use it has been found that the above described mechanismacts positively, invariably, and satisfactorily, either to raise or tolower the seatv4.

Because levers 23 and 36 are fixed to 'thev same shaft they combined.compose bellcranks and in operative effect are the same asa bell-crank.

Having thus described this invention, We

hereby reserve the benefit of all changes in sconced in the Well and tobe supported thereabove, a plurality of pivoted sectional' foldablesupporting members, pivoted sectional links connecting certainadjacentsections'of the foldable supporting members,- a cross shaftconnecting certain of the links, a pair of bell-crank levers pivoted inthe housing and to thev cross shaft to fold or to distend the supportingmembers, and operating connections pivoted to the bell crank levers toraise or lower the seat.

2. The combination of a motorv vehicle chassis, a housing attachedthereto, a seat adapted to be Iensconced in a Well formedv by the saidhousingv and to be supported thereabove, a plurality of foldablesupport-- ing members, a pair of bell-crank levers adapted to fold or todistend `the said supporting members, means intermediate the saidsupporting members andthe said bellcrank levers for actuating the formerfrom the-latter, means located on both sides of the vehicle andconnected by. a shaft and adapted t-o .push or to pull upon the said-bell-cranks, and a gear-actuated rod for actuating the saidlast-mentioned means.

3. Thecombination `of a motor vehicle chassis, a housing attachedthereto, a seat adapted to be ensconced'in. a Well'formed by the saidvhousing and'to be supported thereabove, a plurality4 of foldablesupporting' members, a pair of bell-crank levers` vadapted lto fold orto distend the said supporting members, means intermediate, the

saidV supporting membersand the said bellcrank levers for actuating theformer from thelatter,'means located onboth sides of the" vehicle andConnected* by' a shaft andV adapte-d to push or to` pull upon the saidbell-cranks, anda pair of gears adapted to y actuate the said lastmentionedy means.

4. The combination of amotor vehicle chassis, a housing attachedthereto, a seat adapted to be ensconced in a Well )formed by 'the saidhousing and to be supported thereahove, a plurality of foldable support*ing members, a, pair of bell-Crank levers adapted to fold to distend thesaid supporting' members, means intermediate the said supporting membersand the said `helloranl: levers for actuating the former fromthe latter,means located on. vboth sides of the vehicle. and connected hy a shaftand adapted to push or to pull upon the said bell-cranks, and gear meansadapted to actuate the said last mentioned means in either direction,

'r The combination of a motor vehicle chassis, ahousing attachedthereto, a seat adapted to be ensconced in a Well formed by the saidhousing and to loe supported 'thereaioove, a plurality of foldablesupporting members, a pair of bell-crank levers adapted to'fold or todistend the said supporting members, meansv intermediate the said surporting members and the said hell-crank levers for actuating the formerfrom the latter, means located on both sides or" the vehicle andconnected by a shaft and adapt ed to push or to pull upon the' saidbellcranks, gear meansv adapted to actuate the said last vmentionedmeans in either direction, and a dog for engagement with the said gearmeans so as to prevent involunbar lowering of the seat.

E.' A. convertible motorv vehicle having a Emme dependent from litschassis, a shaft fin-f nounted in the fr me, a pair of bell-cranksnounted on the frame, a seat, a plurality of Foldable supports pivotedto the seat and v Lhe frame, operating3 means pivoted to the iheft, thesaid oldable supports adapted either to push or to pull upon the saidshaft.

:o vraise or lower the seat, and means for actuating the saidbell-cranks 1n either irectw A intermediate the foldahle bell-cranklevers adapted elther to push or consisting 4 of W) EL" 7. A convertiblemotor vehicle haring a frame dependent from its chassis, a shaft mountedin the frame, a pair 'of hell-crank levers on the shaft, a seat, a.plurality of folclable supports for the said seat, means supports andthe to pull upon the said supports, means for actuating the saidbell-crank levers in either direction, the. means intermediate thefoldable seat supports and the bell-crank levers an intermediate membermounted on the shaft and a pair of levers piroted to thepposite ends or"the inten mediate member and the supports, and oper-- ating' meansextendingfrom the hell crank levers.

8. .ln a mechanism of the character described, a vertically movableseat, a frame fdependent from each side of the vehicle, a vverticalrounded bar supported by each of the said frames, a. grooved roller ateach end of the seat and adapted to ride upon the said bar, a pluralityof foldable supn ports pivotedat the front and rear of the est and tothe frames, and asystem of levers connected to the foldable supportsincluding a pair of hell cranks, whereby to raise and lower the seat.

9. :l convertible motor Vehicle having a frame dependent from itschassis, foldable supports pivotecl to the frame, a seat vp'jrvoted 'tothe upper ends of the fold-able supports,

foldable braces extending from the frame each side the seat, rollers oneach side the seat to engage the 'folclable ybraces to steady said seatvin its movement, and means -fer extending and folding; 'the foldahlesupports to 'aise or lower the seat.

In testimony whereof We hereunto ax our. signature @noses fronrrorma,CHARLES, o. Winterse.

